Are you preparing for TOEFT test? And looking for tips and strategies for the TOEFL Reading section. Before you start preparing for the Reading test, it would be ideal to understand what Reading test stands to check in a candidate. Well, the TOEFL Reading section is designed to gauge a test taker’s ability to read and understand underlying meaning and context of a written English text. The texts are academic in nature. There are a total of three-four passages which consist of 36 to 56 questions, which need to be answered by reading the passages. Test takers are required to answer all the questions within 60 – 80 minutes. The Reading test can look deceptively easy, but in actual it is not. It is hard to score full points in the Reading section.
If you are looking to improve your Reading section score, here are few tips for you:
Read a lot of English materials
Reading can be seriously difficult, if you haven’t spent enough time to practice reading various academic materials and textbooks regularly. You can score higher only when you are a great reader yourself. Never stick yourself to one type of topic or subject, read various subjects such as Business, Geography, History, Science, Social Sciences, Economics and others, to improve reading comprehension. There are a lot of study materials that you can find online and in university libraries, read as much as you can.
Get the core idea first
While reading the TOEFL passages, it is important to skim the passage to get the main idea, to answer the questions. Later, you can focus on details. Once you get the core idea or meaning of a passage, try to bring it in a single sentence. This will give your important points to answer questions of a passage. If you read the passage word to word, you are sure to run out of time. And in case, if you find a question which you need to answer with specific details, then you can always go back to a passage to find the exact answer.
Build your vocabulary
Understanding the deeper meaning of a text lies in understanding the meaning of words. Different subjects or topics use different kinds of words, prepare a list of words whose meaning you want to learn. Make it a point to understand the meaning and its usage in writing and speaking. If you want to ease your vocabulary learning process, make use of a flashcard.
Jot down all important details
It is impossible to take down notes while reading a passage, so that you have all the necessary information to answer the passage questions. Taking notes of crucial details will save a lot of time in answering the questions without needing to go back to the passage for information. This strategy should be applied right from practicing the sample reading questions.
Read the questions
Sometimes TOEFL test takers read the whole passage then go to the questions. This approach is time consuming and not very effective, so candidates should read the questions first and then start skimming the passage. By doing this, test takers can identify at least some of the answers quickly while going through the passage.
Don’t leave any question unanswered
Try as much as possible to answer all the questions after reading the passages. But if you find a question whose answer you are not sure of, then pick an answer option that looks most probable to you. Since, there is no negative marking, ensure you answer all questions.
And if you want an Expert to help you a good TOEFL score, then connect with top TOEFL trainers and institutes that can help you achieve your goals.
